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Path: utzoo!henry
From: henry@utzoo.UUCP (Henry Spencer)
Newsgroups: net.space
Subject: Re: REAL Star Wars...
Message-ID: <6188@utzoo.UUCP>
Date: Sat, 30-Nov-85 19:34:45 EST
Article-I.D.: utzoo.6188
Posted: Sat Nov 30 19:34:45 1985
Date-Received: Sat, 30-Nov-85 19:34:45 EST
References: <8511300112.AA08255@s1-b.arpa>
Organization: U of Toronto Zoology
Lines: 12

> ...Orion's justification was as a space battleship...

No, its original justification was as a heavy launch vehicle, and a
spaceship capable of exploring the whole solar system quickly and cheaply.
(Sample:  a large manned Mars expedition tentatively planned for 1965.)
That's why a lot of very good people put a lot of effort into the early
stages.  The switch to military justifications came towards the end, when
Orion was visibly dying as a result of high-level policy decisions in favor
of chemical rockets and against nuclear propulsion.
-- 
				Henry Spencer @ U of Toronto Zoology
				{allegra,ihnp4,linus,decvax}!utzoo!henry